The Yorktown Athletic Club Bantam Division is strictly instructional with all practices and games geared to teaching fundamental baseball skills and rules while keeping the game fun and interesting for the players. There will be no score kept in this division (All games end in a tie) The Bantam Division will play under a set of rules that will allow the players to have an enjoyable experience while gaining basic baseball skills. These rules were formulated and will be enforced by the Commissioner of Baseball.The Bantam division will play under the Official Little League Rules with the following exceptions.

PLAYER EVALUATION AND TEAM PLACEMENT: There is no evaluation in this division. Coaches are selected from a group of volunteers with prior coaches being given first preference. The teams will be selected via a “Blind” draft.

Siblings will be placed on the same team unless otherwise requested. Other requests for team placement will be reviewed on a case by case basis but will not be guaranteed.

Game Location: All games will be played on 60' diamonds at Brookside school (unless otherwise noted in the schedule).

Field Closings:Coaches and Parents will check the YAC web site prior to all practices and games for field closings in case of inclement weather.

Field Preparation: Each team will be scheduled to assist in field preparation at 715am on Saturday or Sunday Morning. Teams will be assigned on the schedule.

Equipment: It is the responsibility of the home team Head Coach of the early games to be sure the bases and batting tee are brought out from the field boxesto the field for the early game. The home team Head Coach of the late game is responsible to neatly pack the equipment and return it to the field boxes after the game.

Game Plan: Each team will practice once during the week for 90 minutes. Every team will play one 6 inning Game on Saturday at either 9 or 11am. Every game has a time limit, where no NEW inning will start after 1:40 minutes. Coaches will use the YAC lineup cards and rotate player positions each inning.

Coaches and Parents: At the Bantam level coaches should enlist the help of parents to keep players seated on the bench while on offense since two coaches will be busy pitching and assisting the catcher, in addition to two parents will be coaching first and third base. Coaches should encourage parents to root for both teams and instill the fact that the Bantam Division is about learning not wins and losses.

Playing Time - Each team will roster bat, and rotate kids into the infield and outfield.

Offense-Each batter will be allowed up to 5 strikes to put a ball in play. If the player fails to do so after 5 strikes a Batting-Tee will be used at that time. An inning will end when the defensive team records 3 outs or the team batting scores 5 runs, which ever comes first.

Base running -All batter/runners must wear batting helmets with dual earflaps - NOEXCEPTIONS. Helmets must remain on while player is in the field of play. Runners will advance only one base on each hit unless the hit is a long base hit into the outfield. The play will end as soon as the ball reaches the infield. Runners will not advance on overthrows, including balls thrown in from the outfield. There is no stealing or leading. If the defense records anout on the play, the base runner is removed from the base. Since the Bantam Division does not use umpires, the first or third base coach will make all calls. Coaches and Parents are prohibited from arguing any calls.

Defense- Maximum number of players in the infield is 8 as follows:One player on each side of the pitchers mound. First baseman, Second baseman, Shortstop, third baseman, Front of second base and catcher. Any additional players must be positioned in the outfield grass. In order to ensure equal distribution of playing time, no player can play more than 2 (two) innings in the same position. Note: Coaches need to make sure players pay attention and protect themselves when a good hitter is at bat. There should be a minimum of one coach in the infield and two outfield coaches/parents to instruct the defensive team while in the field.

BatsSize- T-ball bats and approved little league bats will be allowed in the Bantam Division. No wood bats or big barrel bats.

Bat Throwing– If a batter accidentally throws the bat when swinging he will be immediately warned and his coach will make every effort to prevent this from happening again. If it repeats remove the catcher from the game during this at bat to prevent a possible injury.

On Deck Batters: THERE WILL BE NO ON DECK BATTERS IN THIS DIVISION THE ONLY PLAYER WITH A BAT IN HIS/HER HAND SHOULD BE THE PLAYER AT BAT. NOTE: THIS RULE MUST BE ENFORCED TO PREVENT INJURY.

Sliding: Head first sliding is prohibited. Coaches must teach the players to slide feet first only.

Bases may be moveable. The player should not follow the base when it moves.

Pitching: The offensive coach will pitch to his own team.The offensive team should also have a coach behind the catcher to help shag balls and keep the game moving. The coach will pitch from the knee approx ¾ of the distance between home plate and the pitchers mound. Towards the 2nd half of the season, if any coaches feel that they have players that are capable of pitching, they are encouraged to give the children an opportunity to do so. This would start towards the end of the game (from the 4th inning on) where a child would get an opportuniyt to pitch. If need be the child can pitch from a location that is closer to home plate then from the rubber (this sholud be limited to a few feet) so that he is able to reach and throw strikes, but no be overpowering. In keeping the pace of the game moving, if a child is struggling to throw strikes then a coach should step in when needed. Again this is up to the Coaches discretion as to wheater or not he feels he has a player that is ready and capable to pitch.

There are no base on balls in the Bantam Division.

Player Equipment-All male players must wear a protective cup. All catchers, including those players who warm a pitcher between innings, are required to wear a protective cup. A protective cup is MANDATORY for all catchers. Players must also wear a protective heart guard. All players should wear rubber cleats and the full team uniform issued by the YAC.

Jewelry– Players are prohibited from wearing jewelry with the following exceptions: medical alert bracelets or ids and religious jewelry can be worn if it is taped to an undergarment.